


A Christmas Miracle

by TWDObsessive



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Christmas Miracles, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:15:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21976447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TWDObsessive/pseuds/TWDObsessive
Summary: Rick hates Christmas for a lot of reasons, but maybe this Christmas won’t turn out too bad.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes
Comments: 14
Kudos: 92





	A Christmas Miracle

**Author's Note:**

> I love lotr58! She was eager to beta this little fic right away. Plus I just also love her to pieces!
> 
> This fic is dedicated to people who struggle during the holidays. Sometimes we forget that not everyone has something to celebrate or be happy about. Bad things happen sometimes and sometimes those things happen at Christmas. But sometimes the good things happen on Christmas too.

Rick hated Christmas. From November 1st through December 31st, year after year it was torture. Things changed as you grew older and instead of December being filled with sleigh rides and presents and snowball fights, it was filled with losing his wife and son five years ago. Losing his dad two years ago, being shot on duty the year before and God knew what could be in store this lonely Christmas Eve.

Hating being home alone, he drove the streets of Alexandria looking for a bar that was still open. The only kind of Christmas Spirits he wanted came from a whiskey bottle.

He pulled into a local dive, one he’d been at before he retired from the force to bust up bar brawls. He cringed when he opened the door and heard _Grandma Got Runover By A Reindeer_ playing over the speakers. There were a few couples sitting at the tables. A group of guys playing pool and an empty bar where he quickly found a barstool that he planned to call home until closing time.

“What’ll ya have,” the bartender asked as he washed several glasses in the sink below the bar. He had deep blue eyes, shaggy brown hair, and broad shoulders that made Rick shiver with interest.

“Whisky. Neat.”

After the requested beverage was poured and served, the bartender leaned against the bar, all focus on Rick.

“So what’s your name?”

Rick smiled and took a sip. “Is it your job to socialize with the rejects who have nothing better to do on Christmas Eve then go out drinking by themselves?”

“Nah. But it’s my hobby to chat up good looking men that come in here without a significant other.”

Laughing, he answered, “Rick Grimes.”

“Daryl,” the bartender said as he reached out a hand for a strong, manly shake.

“How’d you get stuck working the holiday?”

Daryl shrugged. “Everyone else got kids and family. I don’t have nothing else going on anyway.”

“You look like someone who should have plenty going on,” Rick said in an attempt at flirtation. 

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

Rick took the last slug of his drink and looked Daryl up and down from head to toe. 

“Lotta reasons,” he smirked.

“You flirting with me, Rick Grimes?” Daryl beamed.

“Trying to. It’s been a while.” Rick nervously twisted the empty glass in his hand. “Is it working?” 

“It isn’t not working,” Daryl said with an adorable lopsided smile and a wink that made the butterflies in Rick’s belly go wild.

A customer from one of the tables walked up for a beer and as Daryl handled the patron, Rick tried to gather his nerve.

He hadn’t asked anyone out since asking Lori out in high school. This guy was gorgeous and genuine and sweet, and maybe this Christmas Eve could be nice for once. 

“Last Call!” Daryl shouted before he sauntered back over to Rick. “I get off in thirty minutes. Got a place a few blocks down the road. Could go for a nice walk. See the Christmas lights? Got a tin of Christmas cookies I got from a neighbor that I could use help eating.”

“Yeah. That sounds great,” Rick said, all smiles.

A half hour later the bar was cleaned up with Rick’s help and the two of them left, locking the door behind them.

A light flurry had started since Rick entered the bar and it was just now starting to cover the grass and sidewalks.

Daryl reached out and grabbed Rick’s hand. “Slippery out. Don’t want you to fall and hurt that pretty face of yours.”

Rick blushes. “You are WAY better at flirting than I am.”

“You ain’t as bad as you think. You flirt with them eyes ‘a yours.”

Rick shrugged bashfully and focused on his footsteps.

“So what happened?” Daryl finally asked as he squeezed Rick’s hand.

“What do you mean what happened?” Rick asked, forehead crinkled in confusion.

“Christmas’s past. Something had to turn you off the holiday.”

“What makes you say I don’t like the holiday?”

“Well, You was drinking by yourself on Christmas Eve, you cringed every time a Christmas song came on the radio, and you ain’t looked up once yet at all the lights lining the street.”

Rick looked up and took notice of all the bright white twinkling lights twisting along every branch on each tree that lined the street. One of the homes was outlined in a string of blue lights, a bright white lit up wreath on the front door. The big town center tree was right ahead, decorated with white and blue Christmas lights in the shape of snowflakes.

“‘S pretty,” Rick admitted.

“Still not an answer to my question, though.”

Rick looked over at Daryl, snow latching on to the other man’s eyelashes, cheeks rosy from the cold. For some reason he wanted to tell this man everything. 

“My wife and son died five years ago. Christmas.”

“Shit, man, I’m so sorry,” Daryl said, his voice filled with sincere empathy. 

“Spent the next Christmas in a mental hospital for depression. Two years ago my dad died, again on Christmas. And last Christmas Eve I was shot on the job,” he paused and looked to Daryl, “Cop.” Anyway, injury fucked up my back so I had to retire.”

“That’s enough to make Santa, himself, give up on Christmas, Rick,” Daryl said.

“Waiting for the other shoe to drop on this one I guess,” Rick said with a self-depreciating laugh. “What about you? What’s your deal with Christmas? You like the cookies, the lights, and I saw you mouthing the words to _It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas_.

As the sign at the corner gave them permission to walk, they started across the street. “Don’t really have any great Christmas memories. Mom died when I was young and the old man was an abusive drunk. Older brother in jail. No family to celebrate with really. But see, there’s one big difference between you and me.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“I believe in Christmas miracles.”

Rick cocked his head and smiled. “Are you my Christmas miracle?”

“I sure am hoping. This is me,” he said as he pointed to a townhome covered in red and green lights.

“And you decorate,” Rick said with a smile.

Daryl shrugged bashfully. “Little kid next door likes it—Sophia. And it pretty much guarantees me that tin of cookies from her mama each year.”

Daryl opened the door to his home and let Rick go inside first. Was it weird that he suddenly realized how much he liked having a door held for him? Or was it just this particular guy that was doing the holding? Daryl flicked on a few dim table lamps and grabbed the cookies from the kitchen as Rick tugged off his snow-covered coat and hung it on a coat tree by the door. Daryl nodded for Rick to take a seat on the couch.

“You know I’m real goddamn sorry you lost your family. How old was your boy?”

“Fifteen. Car accident. They both died instantly. That was the only comfort the doctors could provide.”

“Doesn’t help much when you’re missing them like hell,” Daryl said

“No, it really doesn’t.”

Daryl opened the large tin and held it so Rick could peek in. 

“Damn. They must really like your Christmas lights! I don’t even know which one to pick.”

“Here,” Daryl said as he put the tin down between them. “Close your eyes.”

“Why, you gonna rob me?” Rick joked.

“You went from I could be your Christmas miracle to he’s gonna rob me?”

“I don’t have the best of luck at Christmas,” Rick said with a laugh, and he closed his eyes as Daryl had asked.

He heard the other man rustling through the tin. “This is a new one Carol tried this year. Wait- you ain’t allergic to anything are ya?”

“Nope.”

“Good. Open.”

Daryl’s gentle voice guiding Rick to open his mouth was deliciously intimate. He opened and took a bite of the cookie Daryl held to his lips.

It was sweet and rich with what seemed like a hint of salt. 

“Like it?”

“Yes. Is it like salted caramel?”

“Damn, you’re good at this game,” Daryl laughed. “Okay, keep ‘em closed. This next one is my favorite.” He held it to Rick’s lips as the other man took a bite, smiling instantly. 

“Chocolate peanut butter!”

“Dead on,” Daryl said as he fed the rest of it to his guest.

Rick chewed and kept his eyes obediently shut. As he finished the cookie, he felt Daryl’s fingers suddenly brush through his curls. 

“Not sure how long I’m gonna be able to watch those lips move without kissing them,” Daryl warned. 

Rick kept his eyes closed and licked the crumbs off his bottom lip, hoping that it was coming off as inviting. 

“I like seeing you happy, Rick Grimes,” Daryl whispered, his breath ghosting across Rick’s plump lips. And before Rick could gather the nerve to lean in, Daryl did, a hand still caressing his curls and his lips slotting perfectly against Rick’s, tasting of peanut butter cookies and a hint of whiskey.

They kissed for long minutes to the muted sound of _Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas_ coming through the wall of the neighbor’s home.

When they finally pulled apart, desperate for air, Daryl got up and grabbed a thick, soft, throw blanket, sat back down beside Rick, and covered them both. He grabbed the remote and clicked on the television. Rick’s eyes flicked to the door worried he might be over-staying his welcome.

“Don’t go.” Daryl said, half request and half gentle demand. “ _It’s a Wonderful Life_ is on. Will you watch it with me?”

“Surprisingly, I’m in the mood for a Christmas Movie for some reason,” Rick answered with a smile that he hadn’t worn in a very long time.

Daryl put his arm around Rick as his guest leaned over and rested his head on Daryl’s broad chest.

“Daryl? Thank you. This is the best Christmas I’ve had in a really long time.”

“Next Christmas will be even better,” Daryl said, voice full of certainty.

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“It will be our one year anniversary.”

“It’s a date then,” Rick said as he looked into Daryl’s gorgeous, honest eyes. 

They kissed and talked on and off throughout the movie and by the time the bell rang on the Bailey’s Christmas tree, Rick realized that he finally believed in Christmas miracles.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read my fics and kudo’d or commented through the year. In 2020 I will be working hard to finish a boatload of WIPs!!
> 
> Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!


End file.
